For day 5 of the MarcoAce week, the theme is Dance.

Well, just see my interpretation of this theme and (hopefully) enjoy! This story takes place the first spring after Ace joined the Whitebeard pirates.

Disclamer: One Piece is not mine

Dance to Impress

"Hiken!" With one blow, Ace took out about ten marines. Another one approached him with raised sword. The pirate planted his foot in the man's face, in a way that the marine could still look at him. Ace smirked when the sword cut through his leg, leaving a trail of flames. "Why did you even try?" he asked, right before he set his foot on fire. The marine ran off, screaming and clasping his face.

Ace was quickly distracted, however, when he saw a flare of blue out of the corners of his eyes. He turned around and saw Marco grabbing two marines, one in each talon, and throw them into the ocean. He didn't spare them a second glance as they hit the surface of the water, and he returned to the battle scene.

The first and second divisions had been send out to explore the island they had landed on, but on their way back to the ship, they had ran into a group of marines. They weren't even that far from the Moby Dick anymore, Ace could see the ship in the distance.

The freckled man looked at Marco again, who was not having any trouble beating up marines, not even the higher ranked ones. It was fascinating, really, to watch the first division commander fight. And today it seemed even more fascinating than usual. It was almost as if he was putting up a show. It looked so elegant though. Sometimes he was in his phoenix form, sometimes only partly, but Ace just couldn't look away from him. Not that he ever could.

Suddenly Marco turned his head towards him. "Behind you!"

The black haired man swung around and saw two marines coming for him, while a third started shooting. Well, Ace could do that too. "Higan!" Small flames shot out of his fingers as bullets, taking out all three of his opponents.

Meanwhile, the crew on the Moby Dick had gotten air of the fight and Thatch and Rakuyo were send out to check how their nakama were holding up.

The duo had stopped at a safe distance from the battlefield. The first two divisions seemed to be holding up just fine. Especially Marco, who was almost dancing through the air, beating up marine after marine.

Thatch chuckled. "So it's that time of the year again?"

The seventh division commander looked at the phoenix as well. "Yeah, it seems so. He's pretty much showing off again."

"I wonder which poor soul will be his victim this year."

Rayuko nodded. "Maybe he's seen someone on the island today."

"Or maybe it's a bird this time." Thatch laughed.

"He might actually stand a chance with it then." Both of them snickered as they watched the fight slowly come to an end.

The number of marines standing decreased rapidly. It didn't take too long before someone yelled "retreat!" and the marines pulled back. With a scream one guy fell on the ground next to Ace, out of the claws of the first division commander. He groaned, but was still able to stand up and follow his colleagues.

Marco's talons changed into feet, but he kept his wings as he landed before Ace. The blond bowed deeply, while spreading his wings, as if he was striking a pose at the ending of an acrobatic act.

The second division commander raised his eyebrows. What the fuck is he doing?

Marco straightened his back, looking at the younger man, before bowing again, this time shortly. When he stood straight up again, his wings finally transformed into arms. "Are you okay?" Marco asked as if nothing was off.

Ace was slightly confused, because something was definitely off. He had never seen Marco doing that bowing thing before. "I am. Are you?"

"Of course." Marco started to gather around his division to see if there were any wounded people and Ace decided he should do the same. He saw Teach sitting on the ground, grinning at him. He didn't seem to be injured.

"What?" Ace asked. He really didn't understand was going on. And what was so funny?

"Nothing," the man answered as he stood up. "We should take the wounded to the ship."

Ace had tried to forget about Marco's weird behavior and succeeded pretty well. Not the least because he hadn't seen the blond the rest of the afternoon and Ace had been quite busy with other stuff anyway.

When the freckled man entered the dinner room, it was already quite crowded in there. He went straight for the counter to get some food, but didn't miss the bit of conversation that was going on at the commander's table.

"It has begun?" Izo sounded delighted.

"It certainly seemed so," Thatch answered.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" It was silent for a moment before the crossdresser continued, "Or very awkward… Probably both."

"Or we'll lose him again for a few days, because he's after someone from this island," This time it was Vista who spoke up.

Ace made sure to take as much food on his plate as it could carry.

"What? You mean you don't know who he's after?" Izo asked surprised.

It was quiet for a moment, but then Thatch spoke again. "Should we?"

"Uh yeah, I didn't think I would be the only one who noticed. In any case, we don't have to be afraid to lose him. He'll stay aboard, that's for sure."

"So it's someone from the crew? Why would he suddenly be interested in one of us?" Haruta asked.

"That's not it," Izo began to explain. Ace decided that his plate really couldn't take more food and made his way towards the table. "It's more like, well, we have gotten some new members in the last year…"

That was the moment when Ace reached the table and sat down. "Who're you talking about?"

Vista, Haruta and Thatch looked at Ace, the mouth of the fourth division commander slowly falling open. The three of them moved their gaze to Izo, who was trying hard not to let his amusement show, and back to Ace again.

Izo chuckled. "Oh, it's nothing. Thatch, close your mouth, you look highly unintelligent."

Ace frowned. Why did he get a feeling they were keeping something from him? He didn't get any time to complaining though, since Rakuyo and Marco joined them and the subject changed towards the island they had explored today.

However, Ace didn't miss the curious glances that were cast at Marco and him. He decided to just ignore them – if they had to tell him something, they should just do so – and focused on his dinner. A dinner that was gone way too soon.

"Are you still hungry?" Marco asked him.

"Yeah, I should go get seconds."

"Take mine," the blonde said and pushed his plate towards the freckled man.

Ace looked surprised at him. Marco never encouraged him to be lazy. "You sure? I can just go and…"

"No, take mine. I will get a new one."

This made Haruta chuckle and Thatch snort amused.

Ace was still a little confused, but not ungrateful and so, after a "thanks", he dug into the food.

That evening, it was Ace's turn to be on watch. From the crow's nest he could see Thatch, Vista and Izo play a game of cards on deck. Well, it was a nice night out.

His attention was drawn when something flew up into the air. Or rather someone. It was obviously Marco in his phoenix form. He flew through the air above the ship, spreading his wings and just letting the warm air carry him. He circled around for a bit, as if he was making sure Ace saw him, before he dove down in a straight line towards the crow's nest. Just before he reached it, he made a loop up, into the air again.

After he had showed off his flying skills enough, he softly landed on the edge of the crow's nest. Ace snorted. "Was that necessary? Showing off?"

Marco didn't answer, only moving his head up and down few times. Then he started to moving it to the sides as well. It all just looked like a really weird kind of dance to Ace.

"What are you doing? Have you gone crazy?" Ace could really only make fun of it. What was Marco doing?

The bird let his head hang low for a second, looking kind of sad. Then he lifted his head again and unfolded his wings a little. "Climb on my back."

Ace was shocked. He had asked Marco once before if he could ride his back, but the man had declined his request. The others said he never let anyone fly on his back unless it was really necessary and so, Ace had never asked for it again. So where the hell did this offer come from?

A little cautiously he climbed onto his friend's back. He was barely seated when Marco took off, shooting back into the air, towards the stars. Or that was how it felt to the freckled man. He wrapped his arms around the phoenix' neck as to not fall off.

They flew around for a few minutes, the lights of the Moby Dick only a small dot on the earth. He could also see the village that was on the other side of the island. Ace sighed content. "It's beautiful! This is the ultimate feeling of freedom, isn't it?" However, he had a feeling that that wasn't the only reason his heart was beating so fast. He was practically hugging Marco!

The bird hummed happily, but neared the ship again. It took them about a minute to be back on deck. As soon as Ace had gotten off his back, the first division commander took a few steps back and transformed back into his human form. Except for – once again – his arms. It was as if he wanted to show the beauty of his wings as much as possible.

Again, the bowing ritual started, which looked weirder when he was almost completely human. Marco folded and unfolded his wings at the same time as he was swinging his head from one side to the other. Ace began to feel really awkward, as this 'dance' seemed to be meant for him personally. And it was like Marco was waiting for an answer or a reaction or something too.

As talking didn't really work before, Ace decided to ask for help. Maybe the other's knew what was wrong with the blond? He walked backwards to the place where he had seen the three other commanders earlier, not getting his eye off Marco, who slowly followed him, until it was really necessary.

When he turned around, he found Vista, Izo and Thatch laughing their asses off, the latter laying on the ground and clasping his stomach, barely a sound coming from his mouth anymore.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ace asked, thoroughly confused and slightly panicking now. "Marco is acting all weird and you three obviously know more about it!"

Izo was the first one to get his breath back. "Honey, I don't think it's wise to turn your backside to him!" The three of them burst out laughing again.

Ace cast a look over his shoulder, but saw Marco waiting for him at a fair distance. He did seem to stare at him though. At his ass, specifically. The freckled man was getting a little irritated with his friends that could only seem to laugh. Really, it wasn't that funny anymore. "Come on guys, this is freaking me out. Please tell me what's going on."

"Alright, alright," Izo said, trying not to laugh again. "We just see this from so close for the first time. It's hilarious." He shook his head. "How does Marco's behavior come across to you?"

Ace rolled his eyes. "Weird. Not like himself. He's showing off all the time and doing this weird kind of dance. Like a mating dance or something!"

He looked at the much telling faces of his friends.

"Well, he is a phoenix after all," Vista commented.

"Oh," was all Ace could say after a moment.

"It happens every year around this time. It's his mating instinct that takes over," the fourth division commander explained. "He hopes that the partner he chooses returns the dance, but well, as you can understand, no one ever does that. Or at least, he has never taken anyone home, so I assume it never worked. But what human in its right mind would answer such a ridiculous dance?"

"It is a little sad. Especially since he doesn't know how ridiculous he looks." Izo snickered. "Apparently he has taken a liking in you. He will do everything to impress you for a few days, but you would do best to just ignore it. Maybe you can keep the occasional extra meal he gets you." He chuckled. "But he will go back to normal after a little while. I don't think I've seen it last longer than two weeks."

Ace relaxed a bit. Now it made a lot more sense. "So, does that mean Marco… likes me? I mean, outside of this mating period too?"

It was silent for a moment. Then Izo spoke up. "Mostly, this affection is only present at the period his instincts take over, but… to be honest, I think Marco has liked you for quite some time."

If Ace had only known this earlier. He took a deep breath and turned around to face the phoenix-man again.

As soon as Marco saw he had the other's attention again, he started his dance again. Ace smiled and slowly walked towards him. When he was a few feet away from him, he lit his arms on fire. He spread them out and copied the actions of Marco's wings, while bowing down.

He could hear the blonde gasp and his movements became more enthusiastic. Ace tried to copy the man's dance as well as possible, slowly getting closer to him. At some point, their flames touched and wove into each other.

When their faces were only a few inches apart, Ace looked Marco into his eyes. "Marco, how do you feel about me?"

"I like you. Very much," the answer came easier than the freckled man had expected. It was probably because of his instinct, that Marco tried to show him how much he liked him.

Ace smiled. "Then shall we do this in the human way?"

Marco looked at him with his usual bored look, but still seemed interested. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The freckled man chuckled. "This." He wrapped his arms around the man's neck again and softly pressed their lips together.

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